


That day you built Rome (Carpe diem)

by emrys_lokann



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Architect Merlin, Arthur gets myocardial infarction, M/M, Merlin is a little angel, Merlin knows how to do CPR, Workaholic Arthur, but not too much, it starts from there, some fluff i suppose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 01:07:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emrys_lokann/pseuds/emrys_lokann
Summary: Though Arthur might have almost died, doesn’t die and gets a permanent scar on his face, he is not Harry Potter. Still, that doesn’t mean that his life has not been changed, completely.





	That day you built Rome (Carpe diem)

That day would later prove to be a day remembered throughout the rest of their lives. Five days later, Morgana would attack Arthur on his hospital bedside with furious sneers and barely restrained tears while a much quieter but equally distressed Leon with worried glances, and shout in his ears how on earth could he let himself end up like this. Two weeks later, Gwain would warily mock him with a sarcastic smile that doesn’t reach the eyes and take away his beers reminding him how that day proved him to be a real princess. Six months later, Merlin would take his face and touch the fading scar on his forehead and murmur to him how it felt like being stricken by lightning watching him, at the time still a total stranger, fall, pale as sheet, and that it must be some sort of twisted fate. Ten years later, Arthur would not often think of that day anymore, but once in a while, more often than not when he is alone, probably waiting for Merlin to get home from the university or to their reservations at Merlin’s favorite place, he would. Arthur couldn’t really remember much about the suffocating pressure in his chest the acute pain in his heart, couldn’t remember anything except an indistinct sense of crashing and some distant noises, but he could not help but secretly marvel at how since that day, everything, every single thing of his life had changed. It was still early to be a hundred percent sure that it was for the best, yet somehow, Arthur knew he was getting closer and closer to that affirmation by day.

But on that day, for Arthur, everything seems to start out perfectly normal. Just a usual, quiet, busy work day late at the office. The only thing that is perhaps a bit uncommon (and only a little bit) is that it indeed is a very late night, or one may say, a very early morning at the office, since it’s already verging on 5 o’clock in the morning. Outside the panoptic window that Merlin will one day fall in love with on first sight, the day is about to break, and the city is slowly waking up. Merlin may find it immensely fascinating to take in the view of the entire city and can spend hours gazing at the other architectures, the moment of clouds and the people passing on the street that seem to be smaller than ants from such a great distance, but Arthur doesn’t care for any of these things.  
Arthur was, is and always will be busy with his work. He has been in the office for almost 24 hours straight since he came in yesterday morning at 7:30 until now, and nights like this have never been novelty to the Pendragons. Since he was a kid, his father was constantly spending nights at the office, holding meetings of hours long and taking business trips far away. It only seemed natural that he inherits all the work, meetings and business trips together with the company which requires them.  
Camelot Corporation may or may not be the largest, most powerful and well-funded construction company in all of Europe. Uther had always proclaimed that it was with no doubt, while others respectfully agreed with him on every dinner table and in every meeting room. But young as Arthur was, he took notice on the inconspicuous holes in the financial reports that Uther had skimmed over and kept caution over the whispers lurking around the corner that Uther had disregarded. When a few years later Arthur eventually became the true and only head of the company, gone were all the declarations about how Camelot corp. was the “-est” or “most-” of anything, and strangely, the same went for the holes and whispers.  
Though he never voices it out loud, the few people who really knew Arthur (actually, limited to his half-sister Morgana who is in fact his only family, with Uther being father but never dad. Leon, his personal assistant and consult who is the only one still with him since the day he started working in his father’s company, and Gwain, who grew up with him half the time insulting each other and the rest competing for everything.) know that he took great pride in his work, in fact, greater than Uther ever had. For Arthur, Camelot is not just a string of numbers on an asset sheet or a skyscraper in the center of London, but cities to be, in which there will be many beautiful houses and schools, and in those faces with joy real enough to be touchable. To some, Arthur will always be the impersonal workaholic front man who wears thousands of pounds worth of suits. They will not understand that aloof as Arthur seems to be, no one else ever treats the work itself like he does.  
Therefore, it is natural that Arthur doesn’t seem to really live outside his office. Whenever Morgana cannot help but worry about Arthur by mocking that he has no life, one would find it hard to defend him, for going to the gym 3 times a week and visiting his father once two months just cannot really count. But again, he doesn’t really care for these things, and they both know that it’s not going to change. At the end of the day, Morgana knows best what lies in foundation for his unfaltering endeavors for Camelot, so she lets him have his way. But if his extremely busy schedules and non-stopping business plans have something vaguely to do with trying unintentionally to make Uther proud out of a habit, it is suspiciously kind of her to never bring it up that Uther may simply not know what pride is.  
With all that being said, one can understand why it is not at all a strange thing for Arthur Pendragon to be in his office before dawn with what seems to be a dozen of already drank out coffee containers inside the trash bin. Yet Arthur must admit that though he is not against his tight schedule in any sense, 24 hours straight of work is somewhat a bit too much even for him. 3 times a week to the gym is simply not enough to build a physic of a machine, nothing is. The lightheadedness that he is feeling and rush in his chest prove that he is not a 21-year-old undergrad anymore. Which reminds him, he is supposed to make a speech at the Academy to the real undergrads today.  
It sometimes churns up a mixed feeling in Arthur when he gets engaged with the Academy. The Academy, aka the Royal Academy of Architecture, one of the best universities of architecture there is, and an intimate cooperator of Camelot ever since Arthur took over the company. Arthur will never regret giving up architecture and his offer of the academy for business school, for just as what all reason and his father tells him (“you can find as many good architects as you want to build whatever you want, but you surely cannot hand over the company to someone else, can you, Arthur?”) no matter what Morgana says otherwise, is true. But it is just as true that he will never cease to admire the grace of the silver-grey rooftops, the evergreen covered marble halls of the academy, and the dreams and passion they harbor.

Today Arthur is supposed to have a meeting with the administrators of the university, including Gaius, who was an oldest friend of his father, and one of the few people who later had become Arthur’s friend. Gaius used to be a most talented architect himself when he was young, and after having successfully cooperated with Uther as his ‘court architect’ after a few decades, he has done an equally good job as a professor and later the headmaster of the Academy. Arthur had come across seeing Gaius with his students once or twice, and it always makes him smile inwards when he hears Gaius’ patient yet exasperated tone at his hopelessly clumsy undergrads. Gaius, having no family of his own, had watch Arthur grow up and gave his gentle yet incisive advises each step of the way. Deep down, Arthur has always regarded him as somewhat like a father figure.  
Two months ago, a friendly member of the university board proposed a collaboration between the Academy and Camelot to give the best young architects a chance to go into the field, which is also the reason why Arthur is here today. Though he feels lightheaded probably due to extreme lack of sleep, he quite looks forward to the meeting. Camelot surely can use the help of some real talent.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arthur looks at the time and calls for Leon to set off for the Academy. “Arthur,” Leon watches his face concernedly, and says, “you should try to get a few hours of sleep after this, you know. You’re as pale as Ms. Morgana in her party make-up now.”  
Arthur smiles, remembering the frightening gothic outfit that Morgana showed up with last Halloween when their circle of friends went out to the pub, sacring the shit out of the bartender kid (and Leon actually thought it was attractive, how could he), and tells him he’s fine. Though he do suppose that he should plan for a little sleep sometime sooner. Leon was about to keep on, so he promises that he will go home right after the meeting.  
They arrive at the Academy right a bit earlier than schedule. Gaius meets him warmly at the board room, and Arthur finds that he cannot summon up enough irritation to be impatient (which is quite strange because he is usually impatient to a certain level waiting for other people) for the last ones to arrive. Gaius is settling some matters with his assistant looking guy, and Arthur notices that they were speaking in a distinctly close manner. Gaius is bordering on sarcastic, and the kid’s ears are flushed. To Arthur’s mild surprise, he find that he doesn’t recognize the kid. He looks like a broke undergrad, with the weird ears and wild hair. Probably a new assistant, Arthur thinks absentmindedly, probably a nice kid, if Gaius pays such attention to him. He looks at the kid again.  
The kid was just finishing talking with Gaius, and he looks up, and he looks straight into Arthur’s eyes.  
The kid’s eyes were dazzling bright.  
Arthur thinks his heart stops for a millisecond. He doesn’t think it has anything to do with the kid though, rather that he really does need to sleep after this. He adverts his eyes politely. He forgets, just this moment, how blue his own eyes are.  
He forgets about this little interlude completely once the meeting starts. He speaks and listens, and with his professional efficiency, they work out the core of the project easily, leaving only some details to be sort out later.  
“With this program, Arthur, I can guarantee that Camelot will find some surprising talents from our students,” Gaius says delightedly to him, “Of course, the kids will learn a great deal more. But Camelot will definitely not find these kids elsewhere. They have a good chance of becoming the best you can find in the industry! Take Mr. Emrys here for example, Merlin Emrys……”  
Merlin, Arthur thinks, is a strange name.  
Gaius’ voice dimmed down, and Arthur’s head feels fuzzy. He thinks he need a painkiller, because his head ache has just zoomed up a whole new level. Or is it his heart that feels very strange?  
“Arthur? Arthur!”  
Arthur falls from his chair and hits the floor head down. He feels that his heart is stopping and he suddenly cannot move. He feels that his head has hit something hard and feels a warm moist on his forehead. He sees vague figures surrounds him and hears distant voices. He hears someone barks out: “How the fuck can no one else know how to do CPR? Fucking call an ambulance!” He feels warm lips on his face and someone patting his cheeks. He sees a pair of bright eyes before his own and everything goes dark. He loses consciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a beta, so sorry for all the mistakes. I suppose there's quite a lot of them...Please leave a kudos or comment and tell me what you think~Hope you like the story!


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